Newsom lauds state at Universal Studios event; gives $1.5M to 10 in last drawing
Gov. Gavin Newsom rolled into the land of Harry Potter on Tuesday to make a wide array of California coronavirus-era restrictions disappear and make $1.5 million in walking-around money appear in the pockets of 10 residents.
Costumed movie characters playing Transformers robots and Minions from the “Despicable Me” movies appeared in 90-degree weather to greet Newsom, who sauntered onto the stage in front of the iconic, rotating Universal Studios Hollywood globe, as parkgoers streamed back and forth, many still wearing masks,
on a day when the park’s capacity restrictions were formally lifted.
Newsom presented giantsized checks and drew winning numbers in a lottery aimed at encouraging Californians to get vaccinated.
“This could be you,” declared Newsom, just before the winning balls dropped out of the machine and potentially changes of the life of 10 Californians.
Four Los Angeles County residents, one Riverside County and one Ventura County resident were among the 10 winners chosen to receive $1.5 million each as the grand prizes in the state’s “Vax for the Win” COVID-19 vaccination incentive program.
None of the winners were identified due to privacy concerns. The state announced only the counties in which the winners reside. The additional winners are from Marin, Santa Barbara, Sacramento and Stanislaus counties.
As the long-awaited easing of public health orders arrived for millions of increasingly soothed Californians who’ve endured the 15-month pandemic roller coaster, Newsom’s visit to the theme park was to mark the mask-lifting milestones and encourage people to take steps to keep boosting the goal of herd immunity.
Businesses across the state returned to mostly normal operations Tuesday with the lifting of COVID19-prompted capacity limits and physical distancing requirements. Riding the statewide wave of relief over the end to many of the rules aimed at saving lives during the deadly coronavirus outbreak, which has raged for more than a year and claimed more than 65,000 California lives, the governor Monday warned the virus is still active and maskwearing will continue to be a reality for nonvaccinated residents, at businesses that require them or for people who simply feel safer wearing them.
“We are here, today, June 15 to turn the page, to move beyond capacity limits, to move beyond these color codings, to move beyond social distancing and physical distancing, and, yes, as you saw me walk up to the stage, to move beyond mask coverings,” Newsom said as he addressed media in front of the theme park’s familiar fountain. “To move beyond wearing these masks.”
The governor said, however, that there would be “caveats” on mask-lifting. Newsom this week promised to sign an executive order to let vaccinated workers go maskfree once the state’s workplace regulators vote on new rules Thursday.
Newsom encouraged “thoughtfulness,” especially for people who have not been vaccinated. Universal Studios’ website added a notice Tuesday only recommending caution, which replaced an earlier, more restrictive notice that proof of vaccination was required for out-ofstate visitors.
“It’s been a tough year for all of us, a tough 15 months for all of us — all the fear and anxiety that we’ve all had to work through,” Newsom said. “I’m mindful of that stress still upon so many of you. I recognize the incredible burden that’s been placed on you over the course of the last year. But I want folks to know that the state has your back as we come back.
“We are here because of your hard work. We’re here because of your resilience. We’re here because of 40 million Californians that met … many different moments over the course of the last 15 months. This was the first state to initiate a stay-athome order. This was a state that was guided by science, by data, by facts, by observed evidence, not ideology. As a consequence, the state of California has one of the lowest case rates in the United States of America, one of the lowest positivity rates in the United States of America, and proudly, among the highest vaccination rates in the United States of America.”
L.A. County Board of Supervisors Chair Hilda Solis joined the governor onstage.
“In L.A. County. we’ve already provided 9.7 million doses of the vaccine that have been administered already,” she said, “But we still have a
Helen Cordova, the first person to be vaccinated for COVID-19in California, shows off her winning numbers in the $1.5 million prize for vaccinated Californians at Universal Studios Hollywood on Tuesday.
ways to go. In the communities of color that I represent in the First District, we still have a number of people who aren’t convinced that they need to get vaccinated.”
Also joining the governor was Helen Cordova, an intensive care unit nurse at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center, the first Californian to be vaccinated against the virus in December.
“I am feeling so emotional, excited, hopeful,” she said. “Dec. 14 will live in my memory forever. At that point we were starting to manage the biggest wave that my unit saw. We were tried to our very wits’ end and our resilience was definitely tested. And to look back now, to where we were, is a little eerie but also encouraging and exciting.”
In December, Cordova urged “Protect me,” as a colleague rolled up the right sleeve of her scrubs and jabbed her in the shoulder to a round of applause from
Newsom, L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti and other workers who gathered.
Tuesday, the governor said the continued presence of COVID-19 variants remain a threat.
“We are mindful and sober that we need to continue to encourage people to get vaccinated,” Newsom said at the Universal Studios event. “And we need to courage people to be thoughtful and be judicious, mindful of these mutations, mindful of the variants all around the rest of the world, mindful that not everybody is doing as well as the state of California. And we have people traveling from all around not only the country but around the world coming to venues like this. We need to keep our guard up; we can’t let our guard down.”
For at least a couple of more days, mask-wearing will remain mandatory for workers in indoor settings, regardless of vaccination status. Thursday, the state’s Occupational
Safety and Health Standards Board is set to consider revised workplace mask-wearing guidance, which would generally align with the state’s rules for the public at large. The rules would require businesses to verify workers’ vaccination status and make masks available to unvaccinated workers, who must wear face coverings in the workplace. Vaccinated workers would not be required to wear masks in the workplace under the proposed rules.
If the board approves the rules, Newsom said he is prepared to issue an executive order implementing them immediately. Normally, the board’s decision would have to be reviewed by state attorneys and wouldn’t take effect until the end of the month. Newsom’s executive order would close that gap and immediately implement the rules later this week.
While Newsom struck a celebratory tone for the reopening, the occasion also renewed criticism from Republicans of his handling of the pandemic.
“In the last 15 months under Gavin Newsom’s harshest-in-the-nation shutdowns, California’s children lost more than a year of in-person schooling, nearly 20,000 businesses permanently closed, unemployment skyrocketed and his broken unemployment department continues ignoring more than a million Californians in need,” said Jessica Millan Patterson, chair of the state Republican Party. “While I’m thankful to finally be closer to joining the rest of the country that reopened long ago, I won’t forget the devastating experiences of too many Californians as a result of this governor’s oneman rule. Even now, as he claims our state is reopening, he’s refusing to give up his emergency powers.”
Tuesday’s show-businessflavored event was complete with a booming musical score and the movie characters. Newsom said that as of Monday, 72% of state residents had received at least one dose of vaccine.
The state had earlier chosen 30 winners of $50,000 each and $50 grocery gift cards to residents who receive a first dose of vaccine.
The incentives won’t end there, with Newsom this week announcing a giveaway of six vacation packages. That drawing will be held July 1, with anyone in the state who is at least partially vaccinated eligible for the prizes.
The prizes include vacation packages to Anaheim, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Rancho Mirage for up to four people, with the various tours including dining at highly touted eateries, visits to theme parks or tickets to sporting events.
Newsom said the venues participating in the giveaway donated their services, while the state “is going to provide an additional $2,000 for travel, so your travel is covered.”